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Religious laws are seen to be eternal and do not change over time.[3] Secular laws (non-religious) can be changed by their lawmakers.[3] Religious laws govern people's behaviors and their beliefs.[3] Secular laws deal with people's actions and how they affect other people. In religious law, disputes are settled by officials of that religion combining the actions of a judge and a priest.[3] In secular systems the judiciary is independent.[3]

Historically, in the diaspora, halakha served many Jewish communities as both civil and religious law. There was no difference in classical Judaism. Modern religious leaders have come to view the halakha as less binding in day-to-day life. This is because it relies on Rabbinicinterpretation instead of the pure, written words written in the Hebrew Bible.

Under contemporaryIsraeli law certain areas of Israeli family and personal law are under the authority of the rabbinic courts. This means they are treated according to halakha. Some differences in halakha itself are found among Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, Sephardi, Yemenite and other Jews who historically lived in isolated communities.